


Ghost trains at Watford

by alexwlchan



Category: The Railway Series - W. Awdry
Genre: Ghosts, Paranormal, Trains
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-04
Updated: 2020-05-04
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:21:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 781
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24007303
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alexwlchan/pseuds/alexwlchan
Summary: Report into an incursion with a ghost train at Watford Junction. Not for public distribution.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 6





	Ghost trains at Watford

**Author's Note:**

> Expanded version of an idea from a tweet: <https://twitter.com/alexwlchan/status/1257360847594237953>
> 
> This is a parody of an RAIB accident report. The RAIB are responsible for investigating rail accidents in the UK that don't feature paranormal activity, and I'm a big fan of their reports. The reports explain all the factors that led to an accident, make recommendations for how to avoid a repeat, and do so without assigning blame or finger-pointing. If you like reading incident reports, worth a look.
> 
> Minimal editing.

### Preface

The Bureau of Incidents and Abnormalities on the Railway (BIAR) is responsible for conducting investigations into paranormal activity on railways in the UK. Such activity is included, but not limited to: ghost trains, mischievous wagons, and stubborn locomotives.

  


### Summary of the incident

At around 17:20 hours on 18 August 2019, there was a temporary loss of power onboard train reporting number 2D53. This train, operated by West Coast Trains Ltd (Virgin Trains), was a passenger service travelling from London Euston to Birmingham New Street. The train was travelling at 30mph, and running 17 minutes behind schedule. The train was carrying 237 passengers.

The train was on the approach to Watford Junction. All electrical power was initially lost in the driving car (390129). After half a second, electrical power was then lost in the first passenger car, and so on at half-second intervals until electrical power had been lost in all cars. This affected all electrical devices within each car, including personal passenger devices and lighting systems. Power was restored after approximately 2 seconds, and moved backwards through the train in a similar pattern to the outage.

At the same time, a ghost train from the 1996 Watford train crash was approaching Watford on the same line.

Normally ghost trains are given priority use of a line, to avoid the ghost affecting the real train. The signaller on duty was aware of the line block, but having not seen an actual train (ghost trains are invisible to humans), they assumed it had been cancelled. Since 2D53 was already delayed, he routed 2D53 on to the same track as the ghost train without realising the conflict.

The driver recognised the power failure as abnormal, and stopped the train at Watford Junction. She contacted the signaller, and the train unit was taken out of service for inspection.

  


### Subsequent investigation

The train involved in the incident was a Class 390 Pendolino, operated by West Coast Trains Ltd, one of 52 such trains in use in UK. The class 390s were introduced in July 2002. The fleet has previously been involved in one serious accident, the derailment south of Grayrigg on 23 February 2007. The maintenance and operation of the class 390s is generally well understood.

The train has been under inspection at ███████ Depot for the past nine months. Investigators have been unable to identify a mechanical reason for the temporary loss of electrical power.

Further, under testing, the train has suffered a series of intermittent faults. These faults have included loss of electrical power, unwanted acceleration, flickering lights, and braking failure. No common cause has been isolated, and attempts to repair the issues have had no effect.

The train is deemed unfit for passenger service, and will remain under observation.

  


### Recommendations

  * The driver of 2D53 is to be **commended** for her quick-thinking, and for removing the train from service almost immediately. Based on subsequent inspection, allowing the train to continue in passenger service would most likely have led to loss of life.
  * The signaller who allowed 2D53 to occupy the same track as the ghost train had only recently completed training, and was on his third solo shift. In an interview, they had never heard of ghost trains, and were not aware of their importance. It seems they are no longer covered as part of mandatory signaller training. We **recommend** that Network Rail review their training procedures.



  


### Previous similar occurrences

It is well-established that allowing a train to occupy the same platform or line as a ghost train will lead to disaster. Signallers are supplied with a schedule for known ghost trains, and should route trains to avoid collisions. Unfortunately, this does not always happen:

  * On 4 February 2019, a train at King’s Cross was held in Gasworks Tunnel, awaiting a platform assignment. It attempted to enter the station with the ghost train from the 1945 accident and derailed on the points, although an emergency brake application by the driver meant there were only minor injuries.
  * On 10 February 2019, a train was left standing on platform 1 of Potters Bar, and met the ghost train from the 1946 accident of the same date. The train was unable to start until the power unit had been completely replaced.
  * On 11 July 2019, a train passing through Peterborough exhibited symptoms characteristic of meeting a ghost train, but we have been unable to identify a prior accident that might cause a ghost train to be present in that area. For six months, the train was unable to open odd-numbered doors.



These incidents have become more frequent in the last several years, and we remain unsure why. We continue to investigate – see the interim report by ███ ███████.

**Author's Note:**

> I like trains, if it wasn't apparent.
> 
> The details are correct, ish. I didn't do much research; I just had a quick look around Wikipedia, plus details I happen to know offhand from my own train travels. (For example, I know 390129 does the Euston to Birmingham route, because I have a photo of it from when I took that trip in January!) Please don't @ me to point out a detail I missed.
> 
> I marked the fandom as The Railway Series because AO3 requires you specify a fandom, but it's loose at best.
> 
> If you like this, you'll probably also enjoy reading [the SCP Foundation](http://www.scp-wiki.net).


End file.
